Android File Transfer Fun (iphone -> android transition 1)

Common preamble: I'm looking to break my Apple iDevice addiction so I can get off the expensive hardware treadmill. So I'm transitioning to Android. I have a MacBookPro running 10.8.x as my main device. I'm currently on an iPhone 3GS after I sadly lost a pristine iPhone 5 in the woods, and my wonderful mother donated her used Samsung Galaxy S3 when she upgraded, so here we go.

First issue: Connecting the phone to your computer sucks out of the box.

Android File Transfer is all sorts of bouncing in the doc and annoying. The phone itself is pretty adamant that you need to download some sort of "Kies" syncing program.

For both of these, my take is, don't do it.

Android File Transfer is pretty annoying but useful in a pinch. So you can use it when needed but have it STFU when not needed by following these lovely instructions from Nicole Reid - https://cooltrainer.org/2012/12/21/taming-android-file-transfer-on-mac-os-x/

Kies appears to just all around suck and I should have known that because it was what the manufacturer wants you to use, and those always suck don't they? Uninstalling it is a pain apparently but the internet comes to the rescue again. I used the instructions for the Terminal at the bottom of the page, just like you will, naturally.

AirDroid seems to be a reasonable app going forward (and also satisfies the "Find My iPhone" use case) but what other things do you guys use for Android file transfer / backup to get your files on and off the machine?

And is there anything like CameraSync from iOS-land exist for Android so my priceless data (photos, videos) are backed up reliably by default, but not just too google?